


Fade

by Anonymous



Series: 30 Days of Writing [15]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Era, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Light Angst, M/M, One Shot, Present Tense, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-05 20:56:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13396080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Mush and Blink read together





	Fade

**Author's Note:**

> Day #15: Books

“Whatcha got there, Blink?” Mush hangs down from his bunk, his head angled to the side. 

From his view, he can see a book with a green cover, the pages a yellow shade. Blink thumbs one of the pages before glancing at Mush.

“Found it in the street. Can’t believe someone would just throw something like this away.” 

Hopping down from his bunk, Mush joins Blink on his bed as he shuffles over. With his chin perched on Blink’s shoulder he scans the pages before him.

“Thems some big words there. What do you think they mean?”

Blink bites his lip as he looks over some of the longer spellings, his finger pointing at one. “I think that’s just a fancy word for big.”

With that in mind, Mush rereads the paragraph again, but it still makes little sense. He frowns, glancing up from the pages just once as someone walks by. Cuddling back into Blink, Mush opens his mouth again, his thoughts becoming muddled amongst the words on the page.

“My brother used to read things like this. Tried to teach me when he could too.”

Blink is quiet for a moment before he closes the book, his face turning to Mush. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”

Pressing more into Blink’s side, Mush nods, taking a breath to steady himself. 

“He died.”

“That when you came here?” Blink asks and Mush remembers. 

Remembers his fear of the lodging house, how he couldn’t sleep the first night because of all the creaks and coughing boys. He just wanted to be with his brother. 

In the midst of his crying, Mush rolled over to see another boy peering at him from just over the top of his bunk. He introduced himself as Blink, inviting Mush to share a bed. Mush refused at first, but the need to have someone with him was stronger and thus began his days with Blink.

Nodding, Mush wipes away some stray tears, grasping onto Blink’s hand when it holds onto his own. 

“Sorry,” Mush apologizes with a small shake of his head. 

While the newsies are his family, nothing can ever replace the loss of his brother. His chest aches and Mush wants to think about other things. 

“Don’t need to apologize. It ain’t easy.”

Mush melts into the kiss Blink places on his forehead before reaching out to the book. Turning to the first page, Mush starts reading again as Blink wraps an arm around him. 

“How ‘bout this word?” Mush points and Blink laughs. 

“You think I’m a walking dictionary?” There’s a pause before Blink mumbles out, “It means something like ‘special’.”

Mush cracks a smile, tucking his head under Blink’s as he holds onto one side of the book, Blink’s hand on the other. The setting sun paints the room in an orange, serene light and Mush breaths again with Blink’s embrace reassuring him every step of the way.

**Author's Note:**

> ...soft...
> 
> [Wumblr](http://safarikalamari.tumblr.com)


End file.
